Pew: Obama’s support eroding

posted at 2:05 pm on March 16, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

A second major polling firm sees an erosion of support for Barack Obama after less than two months in office. Pew Research reports that Obama’s approval ratings have dropped below 60% and his negatives have climbed significantly after his first 50 days in office. Their results parallel those from Rasmussen:

A new poll by the independent Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has found that President Barack Obama’s popular support is eroding, with his approval rating dropping below 60 percent.

“President Barack Obama’s approval rating has slipped, as a growing number of Americans see him listening more to his party’s liberals than to its moderates, and many voice opposition to some of his key economic proposals,” the Pew Center concluded.

Its new survey finds Obama’s approval rating falling to 59 percent from 64 percent in February. It also finds the ranks of Americans who disapprove of the president’s job performance rising, to 26 percent from 17 percent.

The Pew top-line approval approximates that from Rasmussen, which has it at 56%. Rasmussen, though, has the Strongly Approve rating at 36% while the Strongly Disapprove has shot up to 32%, giving Obama the slimmest passion gap of his presidency. The overall Rasmussen numbers are 56%-43% on approval.

What has caused the erosion? Pew says that Obama has increasingly become seen as an ideologue tied to the left wing of the Democratic Party. By a gap of 44%-30%, voters believe Obama to have moved away from moderates, a reveral of his standing six weeks ago. Why? McClatchy’s analysis concludes that Obama’s economic agenda has begun to worry voters, who see a lot of government growth instead of economic stimulus.

After Scott Rasmussen’s editorial last week, Obama defenders insisted that Rasmussen was an “outlier”. No longer.

Update (AP): Full results here. Unfortunately, congressional Republicans’ approval rating has also dropped, from 34/51 to 28/51 — with the bulk of it coming from a 12-point decline among Republican voters.

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“Unfortunately, congressional Republicans’ approval rating has also dropped, from 34/51 to 28/51 — with the bulk of it coming from a 12-point decline among Republican voters.”

Republicans in Congress acting like Democrats and Republican voters disapprove? 40% of earmarks came from Republicans in Congress. Specter, Snow and Collins voted for the porkulus bill. We can count those in Congress worth saving on one hand. If we the people don’t start getting rid of the rest of the power mad crooks, we’ll continue to get what we deserve.

FIFY Obviously get-a-life has not received his propaganda meme from dear leader yet, but I’m sure we’ll hear about it as soon as he gets his marching orders!

Liberty or Death on March 16, 2009 at 3:31 PM

That Daily Kos poll she posted last week was totally irrelevant anyway, as it wasn’t even a job approval poll, it was a favorability poll. In other words, not the same thing.

O’bama’s masters at the Clinton News Network have, however, created a new poll showing Dear Leader has a 64% job approval rating. But even that one has bad news, as his disapproval is up 5% in less than a month.

Unfortunately, congressional Republicans’ approval rating has also dropped, from 34/51 to 28/51 — with the bulk of it coming from a 12-point decline among Republican voters.

Time for conservatives to start hanging big red tags on the RINO’s earlobes and distancing ourselves from them.
AubieJon on March 16, 2009 at 2:41 PM

Remember, nobody votes for “Congressional Republicans.” The elections will all be one-on-one. And in 2010, every election will focus on which candidate voted ‘for’ or ‘against’ the catastrophic re-structuring of our economy.

By 2012, we’ll all need to have the RINO herd thinned out – and make damned sure that whatever few remain are too skittish to put their heads up – so we don’t get the same cluster-f*k we got in the 2008 Primaries!

I love my wife so I don’t rub it in their faces even though they trashed Bush for 8 years all while giving me little smirks now & again. They wanted liberalism, so now they got it. They aren’t so vocal anymore.
portlandon on March 16, 2009 at 3:03 PM

I hear ya portlandon, gotta keep the wife happy, but I’m sure you’d like to cut loose and let them have it but instead (for your marriage’s sake) you bite you tongue until it bleeds.

I hope you have some liberal co-workers or friends you can laugh at and say “I told you so, dumb azz!” If not you may need to find some so you don’t explode as we can’t afford to lose any of our brethren!

That Daily Kos poll she posted last week was totally irrelevant anyway, as it wasn’t even a job approval poll, it was a favorability poll. In other words, not the same thing.

Del Dolemonte on March 16, 2009 at 3:47 PM

That’s not suprising, with Obambi and the media’s love affair with him it’s all about popularity and celebrity and not substance or experience, experience like say in leading the most powerful nation in the world!

Well, the MSM, the lefties, RINO’s, and moderate dems that voted for Obambi got their celebrity and I hope they choke on the consequences, I just wish those of us that didn’t vote for the empty suit didn’t have to suffer along with them but as John D eluded to in an earlier comment, sometimes you gotta go through the fire to become stronger, I just hope our republic can survive the fire!

I think both polls are missing a major shift in the Americian people. This isn’t a rep/dem thing anymore. this is a movement that says are government is broken. From talking to many people that voted for Obama thery site that they wanted someone new, a new direction a new nonpartisian gov that works for the people not the fat cats and not for the liberals and not for the conservatives etc. The drop in the rep numbers at the same time that Obama’s are dropping seem to bare this out. Also the rise of the tea parties, the Any Rand books, and the corresponding drop in party afflitation among the population all point this out. They are seeing Obama has just another politician looking out for his liberals, They saw Bush as just a politician looking out for his rich country club friends.

I really see no way for the gov to win here. Everything in Washington is policital and the Americian people are tired of the political games. They are tired of the Dems saying they are for reduced spending for 2 years and then as soon as they get the reins of power they spend more then anyone ever. They are tired of seeing the reps spend trillions under Bush and as soon as they get out of power become finacial conservatives again. The Politicians have lied to the Americian people one too many times IMO and now it is a throw the bums out moment. a pox on both their houses.

The Americian people want law and order, they want everyone to play by the same rules be they illegal immigrants or Wall streeet CEO’s. They see both the above groups get special treatment and the avg Americian gets the shaft. It can not last and it has in the past always led to revolution when the majority of people feel like the minority are getting special treatment.

It will destroy the Democrat Party for a generation and perhaps forever. So that cloud would have a silver lining.

NoDonkey on March 16, 2009 at 3:48 PM

Your statement assumes three things that I would allege are not true:
1) Voters are paying attention
2) Those voters who are paying attention can correctly assign fault to the appropriate parties
3) The voters who paid attention and faulted the appropriate parties will remember any of this come 2010

So the conservatives who refused to vote, hoping that a died-in-the-wool socialist like Mbama would get elected to wreck the country so conservatives could rebuild it, were right? Is that what’s going on?

Of course this is no surprise to those of us who knew what Obama was all about, way back when! But as more time passes and you get some perspective about McCain, the media, the Dem majority in congress, I realize how we never had a chance to get an old, white man elected to office in 2008. It was just never going to happen. The real success will be if we can get our act together and get rid of all of them in 2012- as well as insure that America never elects another incompetant, media-driven fool again. Even now I’m fearful of the media being able to successfully polish Obama’s image so that the masses are fooled into thinking he’s not SO bad.

Without this pain we will never be a great and healthy nation. When I went through chemo I can tell you that you first vomit your stomach contents. Then bile. Then blood. Finally you only retch. And then you live.

John D on March 16, 2009 at 3:09 PM

That is very profound. We should never have let this cancer grow so long. I hope the “me” generation can get back to the self-discipline of our forebears. There is no greatness without self-sacrifice we should have known better, but we didn’t.

LOL!! For a good laugh read this poll, and reader comments at this website (or you can take it too, even if you did not vote for him). It is asking whether voters regret voting for B.O. Not scientific, but amusing just to read the comments after the poll. Their grammar, spelling etc., definitely shows the ignorance of a lot people taking the poll, many of them B.O.voters. It’s not your typical type-o thing, but more like english-as-a-second-language thing. Embarrassing to say the least, that voters are so ignorant. Incompetent voters voting for an incompetent candidate.

You know, this is just one more thing that p!sses me off…I heard the other day that Obumble and the Mrs. are planning to take the kiddies on a little “spring break trip”…they did a poll on one site to see where they should go, but the one obvious answer was nowhere to be seen, which is:

How ’bout stayin’ your happy a$$ in DC and doin’ your f-ing job for a while???

I would not say the Republicans were not fighting. When 281 Republicans vote against something and 3 vote for it…I would say that is fighting. In fact I have been surprised at how well most Republicans have hung together in the House.

However, I do think that all the intra party fighting on the part of talking heads etc has damaged the party. All conservatives seem to do right now is fight each other. That does not inspire confidence.

However the fact that the 51 part of the equation has not changed tells us that these people are not flocking to the Democrats. So if Republicans and conservatives can take a break from attacking each other and concentrate on going after Obama…they might be able to bring some of those people back. I bet they can if they hang in there and come up with intelligent alternatives. People want sane reasonable solutions.

This is a two party system. Libertarians and Greens do not count. There is the GOP and there is the Democratic party lead by Barack Obama. Those are the choices. If you can not chose one of them, then the ideologues like Obama will choose for you.

Ya, but he’s black. And educated. And a community organizer. And he has an arab name. What’s not to like? Stocks, bonds, inflation, taxes, national security, who cares about that? That’s for rich white conservative men, many of whom are cops. That ain’t where it’s at.

We need daycare, free meds, condoms, multicultural studies, more more for AIDS research, and a major shift away from having and owing stuff to stop global warming. If we continue down this path, in a 100 years, a winter in Buffalo will have less snow. Think about the children. But most of all, we need programs for women, minorities, and the gay and lesbian community. They are always hardest hit.

Obama understands that prosperity and jobs are just code words for oppression. That is what change is about. Americans have been rich and employed for far too long. We have been going to work far too long. And for what? World peace is as far away as ever. Americans are sick of having to work everyday just to pay mortgages and car payments, and buying groceries and electronic equipment and vacations. If we didn’t have to work, we wouldn’t need those damn vacations. It’s paid slavery. It’s slavery but with a paycheck. That’s not why I came to this country. I came for the freedom that unemployment checks provide. That way I never have to retire.

What this country needs is freedom. No more working for the man. This country needs to take a year off to find itself to discover where it fits in with the rest of the world community. We can’t do that if we are working. Somewhere 200 years ago, America went wrong. Obama is going to fix that. Obama will free us from our dependence on money. Nobody really needs money. All you need is points. These points can be earned by going to school, or staying out of jail, or doing community service like finding homes for the homeless, or protesting against poverty. Poverty must end. With these points, you can buy all the cool Apple stuff you need, or you can use them to offset your carbon emissions.

We don’t need a stock market when all it’s about is owning private property. The 21 century needs to be about sharing. Resources are dwindling. The sky is blackening. Lawns have more and more brown spots. We can’t afford for individuals to own things anymore, like slave masters. Why does every man need to own his own cordless drill? Why can’t the community share a cordless drill? Or better yet, a manual drill to keep toxic batteries out of our landfills.

So, too, many white men are concerned about the stock market. The stock market was a system designed to keep women and minorities under thumb. That’s what capitalism is. It’s a system of apartheid where rich folk make money off the back of poor folk. Under Bush, the market went sky high because of his white, phallic-centric policies. Those rich corporations making all that money was like we were being beaten in the face with a big penis. But no more. Obama is going to fix that too. He is going to put the stock market where it belongs. In the trash can. With a free condom. What Obama cares about, is not the concerns of the ruling class like employment and retirement. He’s concerned about getting justice. For a change. And so far I think he’s on track.

Republicans in Congress acting like Democrats and Republican voters disapprove? 40% of earmarks came from Republicans in Congress. Specter, Snow and Collins voted for the porkulus bill. We can count those in Congress worth saving on one hand. If we the people don’t start getting rid of the rest of the power mad crooks, we’ll continue to get what we deserve.

Hillary is loving this. I’m thinking a few more screwups from “Plugs” Biden and she’s our new Vice-President. Obama “gracefully” declines reelection in 2012 and we have Mrs. Bubba coming to the rescue as the front-runner.

TheMightyMonarch on March 16, 2009 at 2:30 PM

BRING HER ON!!!!!!

My concern is that there are many LIBT**DS who are in the guise of moderates who will do the exact same thing to get elected in 2010 as what The One has done. WE NEED TO STOP THOSE FROM GETTING ELECTED.

My extremely left wing mother & father in law who did everything just short of getting an Obama emblem tattoo’d to their foreheads have been grumbling as of late. Little words like “phoney” & “fraud” had been tossed around the dinner table this weekend.

I said something to the effect of the mask of Obama is slipping, and they came as close to agreeing with me than was comfortable for them to acknowledge.

portlandon on March 16, 2009 at 2:20 PM
As I said in my previous post, I could use a little extra cash, would your in-laws that voted for Obambi care to play some three-card molly….?!?!

So, do you like and get along with your in-laws? If not then I would gloat and rub it in as much as possible, and if you do get along with them, well then, I would still gloat and rub it in! :-)

Liberty or Death on March 16, 2009 at 2:30 PM

I am having a similar issue here with my in-laws…imagine the SHOCK AND AWE on my part when they added Fox News to their sat lineup. They hate and despise Rush and Reagan. My gosh the sweetest people on earth, due to guns and ammo and hunting you’d think they are conservatives; but talk about politics and the snarkiness comes out and transforms into this hatred…

Before the elections she bragged about O being a better administration than Bush’s (yea I know you’re laughing) and I just said I wished him luck (stole it from Hannity) to appease and put an end that particular day.

THis is not good news. After all he’s done it should be lower.
Exactly. It will probably take another 6 months before it really sets in with the people who voted for him.

I’ll tell you how bad some people got suckered…my landlord went and bought 2, not 1 but TWO, labradoodle dogs when he heard that’s what Obama was going to get for his daughters. Sucker.

scalleywag on March 16, 2009 at 2:51 PM

No, it was a Portuguese Water Dog from rescue (my neighbor’s got one). They changed their mind, but no dog yet?????????????? If I am mistaken sorry, I no longer care to visit the WH website. It is painful enough to see the “change” crap at USAJOBS.

You know, this is just one more thing that p!sses me off…I heard the other day that Obumble and the Mrs. are planning to take the kiddies on a little “spring break trip”…they did a poll on one site to see where they should go, but the one obvious answer was nowhere to be seen, which is:

How ’bout stayin’ your happy a$$ in DC and doin’ your f-ing job for a while???

THis is not good news. After all he’s done it should be lower.
Exactly. It will probably take another 6 months before it really sets in with the people who voted for him.

scalleywag on March 16, 2009 at 2:51 PM

ProudPalinFan on March 16, 2009 at 9:19 PM

I liken this to a guy making an impulse buy on a large, shiny flat screen HD TV. It’s an off brand, and he does no research; he just sees it, falls in love with it, starts day dreaming in the Electronics store about how impressed his buddies will be…so he whips out the credit card and buys it on the spot. From the moment he gets it home, he has problems with it.

The following week, his good friend visits and he shows him the new TV. His friend, trying to be both helpful and polite, says, “Gee, I heard those weren’t very relaible….Did you do any research on customer web sites and blogs to see what other people were saying..?” and the guy says YES OF COURSE ’cause he’s embarrassed to admit he didn’t think it through. It will take him at least a few more months of disappointments to admit he was wrong.

I’m seeing the same shift in my gf’s small town in central PA. The people aren’t hardcore liberal, they’re typically very socially conservative. However, they were mad as hell last Nov at all those rich “Republican” Wall St fatcats making off with billions while they were losing their jobs.

Well, the tipping point seems to have been realization that Obama is anti-gun (most of them hunt), isn’t giving them any money and is likely raising their taxes while still throwing billions at the rich “Republican” Wall St fatcats while the layoffs continue, and worst of all since most of them smoke, tobacco prices are going to more than triple soon.

I must say that it seems unreal to me that his approval numbers are still this high. He has already spent more money than every other President in history combined in just his first 50 days and started to absorb private industry into the bloated federal government. The wealthiest Americans are getting their money out of this country in droves now. He is already presiding over the biggest exit of capital from America in history. Unemployment has started to skyrocket and the stock market has evaporated a third of its value. Obama has already dug the national debt over a trillion dollars deeper and he is still digging. Even China knows it can’t be sustained and is starting to reconsider buying all this debt. To have his approval rating at 59% is really unbelievable to me. I know there will always be many people who can never admit they made a mistake voting for this rookie but the majority of American voters seem to be in total deinal and unaware of the consequences they and their children will be paying for years to come.

All Obama has done so far, besides give a lot of parties, and facilitate some embryo smashing, is spend a bunch of money and almost none of it will hit the average voter.

An extra $25 in the unemployment check won’t save the house, an extra 15 or 20 dollars in take home from tax reduction goes to inflation. The infrastructure jobs aren’t, and most of the money sinks into teachers and local gov sinkholes for jobs already filled. The mortgage programs are loaded for people with no more that 5 percent over value mortgages, about the same as programs already out there and in a 20 percent down market almost no one qualifies for help. The program to underwrite mortages for first time homebuyers wont help those losing their homes. The car tax credit is for people already making enough money and paying enough taxes to get a credit back, not for the guy who lost his car to a repo.

Money for those with money and chump changes for those with empty pockets.

Obama and the DEMs are making the same mistake the RNC and the GOP made, using the little guy to vote them in, and then paying off their respective fat cats

Libs are partial to teacher hand outs but this was supposed to be a save the nation stimulus, and the teachers and municipal golf course operators already have jobs while the public was led to believe this was another New Deal to create millions of jobs rebuilding America

The White House parties will quickly lose their star quality if Washington boogies while the middle class collapses

John F Kennedy could pull off the ‘Camelot’ schtick because he was not riding a Depression, but had in fact truly stimulated the economy with huge tax cuts and the amazing wealth creating Space Race

I know there will always be many people who can never admit they made a mistake voting for this rookie but the majority of American voters seem to be in total deinal and unaware of the consequences they and their children will be paying for years to come.

Dollayo on March 17, 2009 at 12:18 AM

I hear ya, his approval rating should be lower, but then again the ZERO in charge should have never been elected in the first place. Anyone with so much as one functioning synapse should have been capable of seeing right through Obambi’s and the MSM’s BS!

As for why his numbers as still as high as they are I attribute it to de-programming the Obamatrons, and just like anyone that is a victim of cult brain-washing de-programming takes time. The lemings that voted for the empty suit bought into the MSM propaganda machine that effectively used cult like techniques to convince the weak-minded lemings that Obama was the answer to all their problems, that Obama IS the messiah.

For some all of the de-programing in the world will never convince them they were duped, they are lost causes, for others it will take some time for them to wake from their kool-aid induced trance, and when they do wake they’re going to be both ashamed (as they should be) and pissed (as they should be)!